This week’s show is all about influencers! What are they, how do you use them to promote for your business, and what types of products or services should you be looking to add to their team?

I will be talking mostly about social media influence, but there will also some tips that can be translated into YouTube, blogs, and other platforms like chat bots and memes.

Influencers have become very popular in the marketing world, as they hold large audiences that are willing to watch their videos, read their articles, and purchase their merchandise. They thrive off of advertising for brands, so offering yours may just win you new followers and sales.

There are two main reasons why most people lose out when it comes to influencer marketing. One is that they don’t know where to start with creating content, and the second is that they don’t know which influencers would be appropriate to work with.

Both of these things can be tricky to navigate, but not anymore – I will help you out. We will begin by taking a look at what makes an influential person, before moving onto finding and engaging with influencers. Then we will talk about money, profit, and specialties to determine if an influencer is right for your company. Finally, we will discuss how to produce your own quality content and position yourself as an influencer.

Popular influencer marketing campaigns

Recent popular influencer marketing campaigns include supporting charities, creating educational content or “sponsored posts” on social media sites to promote products, and investing in sponsored giveaways or contests.

Many brands now use social media as an inexpensive way to advertise their product or service. By paying someone to boost your exposure through their followers, you can reach more people while still keeping control over what messages you will showcase.

This is important because without them, your advertisement would go unheard.

By adding value to other peoples lives, you create new opportunities for business. This is how most successful influencers make money – by offering helpful tips, reviews, and insights on everything from beauty products to diet recipes!

Influencer marketing has become very fashionable due to its success. Many big companies have invested heavily in this area to reap the benefits of advertising via social media.

How to launch an influencer marketing campaign

Launching an influencer marketing campaign can be tricky, especially when you're just getting started. You don't want to start creating content and then realize that your favorite influencers have already done all of their sponsored posts for the month!

Making an influencer marketing campaign work is more than just finding someone with popular social media channels and offering them money to promote products or services. It's about making sure they are invested in the partnership and moving forward with confidence.

Here are some tips to help get your influencer marketing strategy off to a good start.

Influencer marketing tips

This week, we’re talking about influencers. What are they and what is their value? How can you use them to promote your business?

Influencers come in many shapes and sizes- You probably know some already! Some are people with large followings who share fun pictures and videos of themselves daily, making it easy for others to watch or copy those behaviors. They grow their followers by offering giveaways and supporting brands and businesses through posts and advertisements.

Other influencers are known for giving great reviews or opinions of products and services. People trust these professionals so much that they will read their thoughts and agree with them or disagree depending on whether or not they feel the same way.

Some make big money off of advertising and sponsored content, while other ones earn more encouraging sales via social media. It all depends on how well they market themselves and what types of things they choose to include in their postings.

What is important though is that their influence grows because people look up to them and want to be like them or at least think they are good people. This creates an atmosphere where people feel comfortable buying from or listening to recommendations given by this person, even if they aren't directly compensated for doing so.

There are several ways to benefit from influencer marketing strategies, but the most direct one is to reach out to individuals yourself.

Examples of influencer marketing

There are many ways to use social media to influence others for your company or brand. You can hire an outside party to do it for you, or you can be creative yourself in how you approach it.

Influencers are already sharing pictures and videos about products that they love, so why not tap into that audience to promote yours?

For example, if you sell running shoes, then you could find a run/swim coach who would invite their friends on Facebook to try out some new footwear before making a purchase.

You could also advertise at a local gym where people usually pre-order equipment ahead of time to give feedback. This is done because most gyms buy a lot of fitness gear so they have to know what works and what doesn’t.

By adding value to the product for both them and their followers, they will probably choose your product over the competition’s.

Does it work?

Recent studies show that brands are investing more and more in influencer marketing to be very successful! The average cost per engagement is around $1,000 which seems high at first, but when you break down how many followers an influencer has, it all makes sense.

By using their audience as a channel for advertising your product or service, they get paid for advertisement while sharing information about your products and services. This is perfect since they already have a large community of people who listen to them!

Influencers can also influence larger groups outside of social media so this investment really pays off. Many companies use this technique to promote new products and services or increase sales from existing products.

It’s not too expensive if done right and with the correct market research. People trust those with lots of fans so creating your own fan base is one way to tap into the power of influencer marketing.

Does it pay?

Even though influencers are paid to advertise for brands, that does not make their advertisements any less effective. In fact, they can be even more powerful because of this payment structure.

Influencers often times will drop products or services that are not aligned with their brand. They will also emphasize how great the product is so people will buy it. This influence marketing technique is called eye-catching promotion.

In fact, there are some studies which show that 70% of all purchases are influenced by social proof. That means whether it’s talking about the product online or through word of mouth, most people purchase a product due to what others have said about it.

So while influencers get paid to use a company's product, they still promote it like it was their own. Therefore, using influencers as exposure tools is just as important as having a business person talk about your product.

Are you ready?

As we close out this year’s Influencefest, there are so many great memories to look back on! This past month has been full of engagement, interaction, sharing, listening, celebrating, and most importantly – learning.

It was our biggest event ever with over 2,000 people attending from around the world, all gathering together for an incredible experience. Over $100,000 USD in prize money given away (YES!), engaging keynote speakers, interactive workshops, and live influencers showcasing their strategies and tools – it truly was one unforgettable day.

We want to take some time to thank everyone that attended, participated in, or worked at InfluenceFest this past month. You made this event possible and it wouldn’t have happened without your passion and hard work. We can’t wait to see what 2019 brings!

Many of you asked about the future events we plan on hosting, so here they are! The team is planning on having two more major events next spring and summer. Stay tuned for announcements coming soon.

Until then though, stay connected by subscribing to our newsletter, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Instagram and Twitter! All three of these channels will be filled with educational content as well as key dates and information for upcoming influence events.

What are your goals?

As mentioned earlier, influencers do not set out to gain money or influence through their social media postings. They create content that they feel will appeal to their followers, build up their follower count, and earn rewards for sharing these products and services.

The rewards can be monetary (for example, paid advertising in return for exposure) or non-monetary (such as recognition and/or gratitude from fans). Even if you don’t care about money, you can benefit from influencer marketing because it increases brand awareness.

In fact, several studies have shown that brands that use influencer marketing see an average increase of 10% in sales after doing so. This is due to word of mouth marketing being three times more powerful than traditional forms of advertisement!

However, just having a popular YouTube channel or Facebook profile isn’t enough – you need to go beyond that. You need to find your inner influencer who knows how to connect with others, believes in your product, and gives you credit for investing in their lifestyle.